Remember the Milk

Google finally added a Task Manager. It is in Gmail and not part of the Calendar.

The simplicity in use is nice. It is easy to add and complete tasks (including emails). I can have multiple lists, move tasks around to organize, pop it out on the screen or minimize it.

However, there are many things that users expect their task list manager help them do. People request features for a reason - they want their productivity tools to fit. I want tools to work with me, and not me have to adjust my workflow too much. A few quick features that really are needed are integration with Google Calendar, email notification, and syncing with other devices and services. Tagging would be nice too.

Granted, the Gmail Task Manager is a "Labs" feature and a first release. I really do like "release early, release often" and grow from there. I just hope they will listen to feedback and make it more feature rich.

Reaction has been mixed so far. It seems to miss the mark pretty much for anybody that has used Remember the Milk. Techmeme rounds up links to discussion on Gmail Tasks.

Gmail has a To-Do list manager now. Well not really. This is third-party integration of Remember the Milk (RTM) inside Gmail. RTM users have had a very effective Firefox extension for quite awhile so integration isn't new either.

The Remember The Milk Gmail gadget incorporates all the good stuff from the main RTM task management site like tags, multiple todo lists, and different task priorities. Everything entered in the Gmail gadget is available on the RTM website and any external services used too. If you aren't familiar with RTM already, check out the features and screencasts.

What makes this stand out is that it isn't tied to Firefox. Safari, Opera and IE users can use it now too. Since it is enabled inside Gmail it doesn't have to be installed on each computer you use. Read more